The Perfect Moment
by Padfoots-Pirate
Summary: PostOiS. Simon waits for the Perfect Moment to arise. SK oneshot.


Disclaimer: Unfortunately for me, I do not own Firefly. But how cool would it be if I did!

Whether his dreams were a strange result of the pain meds or of his consistent stress regarding what could have happened with Early, Simon didn't know. He did know, however, that the incessant throbbing in his thigh, while unpleasant, was a small price to pay for his sister, and for his... Kaylee.

Simon squirmed about, trying to find a comfortable position on the infirmary chair, to no avail. His discomfort only distracted him momentarily from replaying his time with Early in his mind.

"She will die weeping." The bounty hunter's threat echoed in his brain. Over and over. He couldn't stop hearing the four words that had inexplicably struck more terror into his heart than anything else Early said. Anything else he had ever heard.

A soft knock on the doorframe brought Simon out of his reverie. "Simon?"

His eyes opened wearily at Kaylee's quiet voice. A weak smile spread across his face as he beckoned for the young mechanic to come in.

She returned his smile tenfold, lighting up the entire room from the doctor's perspective. Kaylee had had that effect on him from the first time they'd met, though Simon had been too preoccupied with thoughts of River to fully realize it at the time.

"I brought you some lunch, thought you might be hungry," Kaylee held out a tray, smile faltering slightly when Simon met her eyes. She looked down, and placed the tray on the small table next to Simon before turning to leave.

"Kaylee?" Simon asked, the mechanic pausing in the doorway.

"Yeah?" she replied, not turning around.

"What's wrong? You seem... upset," Simon said, choosing his words carefully, something he should have learned to do much earlier when Kaylee was concerned.

"What makes you think something's wrong?" Kaylee said brightly, turning around to face him once more. The way she said it was almost convincing, but something in her wide hazel eyes betrayed her. Simon wouldn't have even noticed if he hadn't spent so much of his time lately watching her.

She flashed him her megawatt smile and met his level gaze. After a brief moment under his inspection, her grin wavered once more. She sighed and pulled up a chair next to Simon, her eyes already growing moist with tears. Simon, afraid he had said something to upset her for the millionth time, opened his mouth to apologize, but Kaylee beat him to it.

"I'm sorry, Simon. I told him where River was. I didn't want to, but he said if I didn't..." she trailed off, a distant look in her eyes. "He said if I didn't tell him, he'd..." Tears began to leak from her eyes, and she buried her face in her hands.

Simon breathed a small sigh of relief when he realized she wasn't upset with him again. He reached over, and to the best of his ability while reclined in a chair, hugged her. Kaylee looked up when he did this, tear-filled eyes meeting his blue ones.

"I know, Kaylee. I don't blame you. And everything's fine now. River's fine, and you're okay too," Simon said quietly, still holding her close.

"But you got shot. If I'da just kept quiet, not told him anything, you wouldn't have got shot," Kaylee protested.

Simon released her, but held her eyes with his own, smiling faintly. "I'd much rather have a bullet hole in my leg than let anything happen to you," he said sincerely.

He searched her face for any sign of disbelief, and, not finding any, he leaned closer, as if to kiss her. She nodded slightly, signaling for him to go ahead, when someone clearing his throat in the doorway, ruining the moment.

Kaylee turned to see the intruder holding a wadded up shirt against his arm, which was bleeding rather profusely. "Not now, Jayne," she snapped, and he rolled his eyes and left.

When she looked back at Simon, he was blushing faintly, looking sheepish. "Well?" Kaylee asked, looking impatient.

Simon returned her look with a blank stare. "Well what?"

"Are you going to kiss me or not?"

Simon looked flabbergasted. "I thought... The moment seemed ruined..." he trailed off at seeing Kaylee grow upset.

"God, Simon, how many ruined moments are we gonna have before anything ever happens? You're so concerned with waiting for the gorram perfect moment that whenever we get one, you always muck it up!" Kaylee stormed out of the infirmary, leaving Simon to mentally beat himself up.

Not two seconds after Kaylee left, River poked her head in the door. "She's right, you know," she said before disappearing again.

The next morning, Simon, injected with various painkillers, limped slowly up the stairs to Kaylee's engine room. Kaylee, who was on her back underneath the engine, head the heavy footsteps and was surprised to find Simon standing in front of her.

"Simon? Shouldn't you be resting or somethin? Are you s'posed to walk when you have a bullet hole in your leg?" she asked, concerned despite being mad at him.

He smiled weakly, gritting his teeth to fight back the pain. "Kaylee, this could just be the painkillers talking, but I realized that the way things have gone for us so far, I'd have to wait a hundred years for the perfect moment to actually happen. And I..." he took a deep breath and crossed the space between the two of them in one large, painful step. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to wait that long."

He reached for her, tentatively at first, but gained momentum, running his hands through her hair and pulling Kaylee to him, bringing her into a kiss.

When they finally came up for air, Kaylee was smiling brighter than Simon had ever seen her smile before. "Well, Doctor Tam, I think you've just achieved your very first Perfect Moment," she said, before she kissed him again.  
$ 

Author's note: This fic has been sort of nagging me to write it for quite some time now, and I would really appreciate feedback, just to tell me whether or not I should have bothered writing it at all.


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